Wife was disqualified because her husband was in the ongoing litigation

I can't ask for an answer ... and I am not. 

Rather I'm asking what may occur in YOUR organizations hoping that with your feedback I will be able to logically determine what direction to proceed in my organization.

1500+ member self-governing WV not for profit corporation.

In 2018 a married member was disqualified from running for the Board.  One thing led to another and that member became involved in litigation with the corporation.

In 2019, still locked in litigation the wife of this member was nominated for a board seat.  The wife was disqualified because her husband was in the ongoing litigation.

In 2020 the litigation continues.

Within a month the nomination process for the 2020 board election begins and the wife will again be nominated.

If this was ongoing in your organization ...  Do you have any suggestions?

Are you on the board, JohnK?

Can you tell us what passages inner governing documents, perhaps your bylaws, allowed th disqualification of either member of this couple?

Who disqualified them and and how,, procedurally, were they disqualified?

Agreed. I would be surprised if there was a basis in the governing documents for this type of disqualification.

The board should just set up a special committee, excluding the spouse, to manage the litigation.

Yes, good point PaulJ. It'd be an executive committee and the wife wouldn't be allowed to attend their meetings on the litigation topic. Pretty simple.

But I'd still like JohnK tells how she was disqualified ---the process & by whom?

https://youtu.be/DUSNDzX-lYg

In my community, it's one vote per unit, so if the unit's co-owned and all assessments are current, one or the other (but not both) could run for a seat on the board. That said, the optics are beyond bad - how can you sit on the board of directors of an organization when your spouse is also suing the same association?

For board elections, homeowners can attend the meeting and nominate themselves or someone else to run, or they can vote for whoever else happens to be running. If they send in proxies, they can list the name of the person they'd like to nominate or the person who will show up and cast a vote on their behalf. OR authorize the board president to case a vote on their behalf. Since the proxy is also used to establish quorum, the majority of our homeowners use it for that purpose only and don't nominate anyone.

If the wife gets nominated, the best you can do is express concerns about her serving (in front of everyone) and ask her how she will ensure objectivity when voting on association issues, keeping executive session issues confidential from anyone, including her husband - and if she understands and accepts that when the litigation is discussed, she must refrain from participating in the discussion (meaning leaving the room) and voting on any motions related to the issue. The homeowners will have to listen to the responses and decide if they want her on there. If she winds up on the board, you may have to get her to sign some sort of memo of understanding or non-disclosure agreement to this effect.

John,

You need to tell us.

I agree with everyone who said that the wife could only be disqualified if the governing documents provided a basis for doing so.

That said, I have concerns about her serving on the board. Aside from the fact that she stands to benefit - or not - depending on the outcome of the husband's suit, the fact that he is suing has to color her views on the HOA itself no matter how much she may try to be impartial.

I also think the optics are bad, as demonstrated by the fact that this question even came up. HOA boards are often the subject of criticism and worse, some of it well deserved. Why do anything that could create even more doubt about the board's decisions?

If I were serving on that HOA's board, I would not vote to appoint the wife to an unfilled position on the board or to a committee. If the owners vote for her, then so be it - they get to live with the results of their vote.

Disclosure of a lawsuit against a HOA or even a Corporation in general has to be disclosed to it's fellow members. So it should not be a secret about the lawsuit to anyone. It even has to be disclosed on the PUD form with certain loans programs.

The details of the lawsuit not necessarily need to be disclosed just that there is one. It should not disqualify anyone even the one with the lawsuit of running for the board. It does not make them in "bad standing". It's unpaid dues that do. I would almost say that denying someone from running for the board that is in "good standing" could make the HOA subject to yet another lawsuit of discrimination. Unless she is running to help with the lawsuit case by showing she was denied.

Yes dues paid

Yes both on deed

Husband nominated 2018

Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

After husband disqualified, wife was nominated to run 2019

President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

Wife will be nominated again within weeks for 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

Dues paid

Husband/wife both on deed

Husband nominated 2018

Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

After husband disqualified, wife was nominated to run 2019

President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

Wife will be nominated again within weeks for 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

Dues paid

Husband/wife both on deed

Husband nominated 2018

Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

After husband disqualified, wife was nominated to run 2019

President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

Wife will be nominated again within weeks for 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

Dues paid

Husband/wife both on deed

Husband nominated 2018

Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

After husband disqualified, wife was nominated to run 2019

President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

Wife will be nominated again within weeks for 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

Dues paid

Husband/wife both on deed

Husband nominated 2018

Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

After husband disqualified, wife was nominated to run 2019

President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

Wife will be nominated again within weeks for 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?

Letter to the Board, cc the HOA attorney reading something like the following:

----------------------
Dear HOA Board,

The HOA governing documents and state law are both clear that I meet the requirements for a seat on the HOA board of directors. Please place my name on the ballot as a candidate alongside all other candidates. If the board does not intend to permit my candidacy, please let me know by March 7, 2020.

Thank you for your assistance,

[name]
Member, ___ HOA
[address, email, phone]
--------------------------

When is the election? What is the deadline for submitting one's name to be a candidate?

Well, JohnK refuses to post the sentences form his bylaws about this topic.

But...why the heck is the president making the decision about who may or may not run for the director slot? Don't your bylaws, JohnK, say that the board makes decisions with their votes at board meetings?

There's another possibility I just thought of - could it be John is the one who's suing the association and his wife wants to be on the Board? Perhaps other board members (and possibly other neighbors) have objected because of some of the things already mentioned in this discussion, and he's looking for a response the others might accept.

Mark's also correct that at some point people have to be willing to stand up for what's right. You can get all the advice in the world, but until you use it, they're only words. I've always said speaking truth to power isn't easy - a simple look at history will demonstrate that. Yet, that's the ONLY way things change. It doesn't happen overnight, there will be some lost battles along the way and you may not be the one who actually finished. But this is your home and in the end, no one will ever care about it more than you. It's just a matter of deciding what you can live with, what your breaking point is and what you'll do if and when you get there.

Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do - Goethe

Gotta love social media!

So the president alone sets election rules? Shouldn't the board be doing that? Or does the president just browbeat the board into doing what the president wants?

Sounds like a breach of fiduciary duty or breach of contract (governing documents) issue, possibly, and grounds for another lawsuit.

Anyone else missing what "disqualified" means here? What is the basis of being denied? It just can't be the lawsuit. It sounds too ASSUMED to be that reason alone.

For me any member can run for their HOA board even if not in good standing. It's just who is going to vote for someone not in good standing or involved in a lawsuit? It's still free will even if your an idiot.

She would be able to run and serve on the board in Texas. Under state code there are very limited circumstances where a member cannot serve on the board of an HOA.

Members of Florida HOAs generally have a right to run for the board. There's no "permission" required from anyone. A member does not have to be "permitted" to run. OP's problem seems to be in WV, however, and I agree with Mark, it's probably not a true Homeowners Associaion, but rather a property owners association of some sort in an "RV Resort" (a/k/a a trailer park with delusions of grandeur).

Perhaps but I'll stand by my take. Whichever, it doesn't sound like a traditional Homeowners Association or Property Owners Association. It sounds like a souped-up trailer park. Luxurious lounge? In WV? To each his own I suppose.

These units go for about $17K per lot. Other "luxurious" lots in "luxurious" parks go for $250K.

I own two of the $17K type units in different parts of the country and trust me, they are nice, but "luxurious", nope!

Asking for your understanding and cooperation to return this thread to the original issue of seeking your thought/experience.  We are a membership that wants change and have a Board that meddles in elections.

What may occur in YOUR organizations? Hoping that with your feedback I will be able to logically determine what direction to proceed in my organization.

1500+ member self-governing WV not for profit corporation.

In 2018 a married member was disqualified from running for the Board.  One thing led to another and that member became involved in litigation with the corporation.

In 2019, still locked in litigation the wife of this member was nominated for a board seat.  The wife was disqualified because her husband was in the ongoing litigation.

In 2020 the litigation continues.

Within a month the nomination process for the 2020 board election begins and the wife will again be nominated.

If this was ongoing in your organization ...  Do you have any suggestions?

1. Dues paid

2. Husband/wife both on the deed

3. Husband nominated 2018

4. Corporation Lawyer wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

5. Election Committee Advisor wrote husband PERMITTED to run for Board 2018

6. Members Election Committee determined husband PERMITTED to run 2018

7. Election Committee Chair wrote to President based on the lawyer's response, ALLOW husband nomination to stand 2018

8. President said NO ... husband is DISQUALIFIED 2018

9. President disqualified husband after being nominated again in 2019

10 After husband disqualified, the wife was nominated to run 2019

11. President said NO ... wife is DISQUALIFIED in 2019 because the husband was disqualified in 2018

12. The wife will be nominated again within weeks for the 2020 election.

If the situation was in YOUR organization, what are your thoughts/suggestions?